A Thrush and A Swallow

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A Thrush and A Swallow

Know the nature of those you deal with.

L'Estrange version

Ah my dear mother! says the thrush, never had any creature such a friend as I have, of this same swallow. No, says she, nor ever any mother such a fool to her son as I have, of this same thrush; to talk of a friendship betwixt people that cannot so much as live together in the same climate and season. One is for the summer, t'other for winter, and that which keeps you alive, kills your companion.

Moral

'Tis a necessary rule in allyances, matches, societies, fraternities, friendships, partnerships, commerce, and all manner of civil dealings and contracts, to have a strief regard to the humour, the nature, and the disposition of those we have to do withall.

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